Roll-driving spindle head



4 Filed Feb. 5, 1965 g- 8, 1967 J. P. BOIKO ETAL 3,334,505

ROLL-DRIVING SPINDLE HEAD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 8, 1967 J. P. BOIKO ETAL3,334,505

ROLL-DRIVING SPINDLE HEAD Filed Feb. 5, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UnitedStates Patent 3,334,505 ROLL-DRIVING SPINDLE HEAD Jury Pavlovich Boikoand Valentin Karpovich Potapenko, Orsk, Orenburgskaja Oblast, U.S.S.R.,assignors to Juzhno-Uralsky Mashinostroitelny Zavod, OrenburgskajaOblast, U.S.S.R.

Filed Feb. 3, 1965, Ser. No. 430,083 2 Claims. (Cl. 72-239) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE been retracted.

The present invention relates to devices for connecting the spindleswith the rolls of rolling mills and more particularly to a spindle headfor transmitting torque from the spindle to the roll of a rolling stand.

There are spindle heads which transmit torque to. the rolls by means ofa splined joint or other similar coupling.

When a roll becomes joined with such a spindle head duringroll-changing, the fitting of the roll grooves onto the head splines israther a complicated matter, thereby requiring an operator.

Such fitting can normally be achieved only by trial and error, whichconsiderably increases the time of rollchanging and hence reduces theefliciency of rolling mills.

A device was also proposed in the art for joining spindles with rollsduring the roll-changing process without manual labor. The device isessentially a spring-loaded movable bush-catcher for the driven end ofthe roll, and is built in the spindle head.

However, this device has certain disadvantages, and the main one is theinevitable and rather considerable increase of the overall dimensions ofthe spindle head due to the built-in additional movable bush. Theincrease of the overall dimensions of the spindles is especiallyundesirable in vertical rolling stands as it leads to an increase in theheight and weight of the stands. Due to a considerable change in theoverall dimensions of the spindles such a device could be applied onlyin newly designed rolling mills.

Another disadvantage of this device is the presence (on the inside andoutside surface of the moving bush) of a double splined joint or asimilar coupling for transmitting torque from the spindle to the roll.

An object of the present invention is to provide a spindle head capableof connecting the spindle with the roll during roll-changing, withoutthe use of an operator and without the above disadvantages.

This object is achieved by means of spring-loaded turning dogs installedon the end part of the spindle head which has a splined or similar jointfor transmitting torque from the spindle to the roll. Each of these dogshas at least one working guide surface which serves as an extension ofthe side surface of the spindle head spline. When the dogs areretracted, they enter the grooves on the roll and are designed to guidethe roll groove onto the spindle head spline.

To ensure a positive connection between the spindle head and the roll inthe process of roll-changing, each dog should have only one workingguide surface and all the dogs should be arranged in such a manner as tomake their working guide surfaces jointly fix the position of 3,334,505Patented Aug. 8, 1967 the roll in relation to the spindle head, therebypreventing them from relative motion. It is believed that the presentinvention will be clearly understood from the following description ofits now-preferred. embodiment and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a general view of a horizontal working stand drive beforejoining the spindles with rolls;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the part of the spindle head;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2 theview looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 4 is a general view of a lock for holding spindles duringroll-changing with the help of the proposed spindle head in verticalrolling stands.

Rolls 1 (FIG. 1) are driven by an electric motor 2 through a pinionstand 3 and a spindle 4. The end of each spindle 4 bears a head 5'designed for transmitting torque from the spindle to the roll throughsplines 6. Onward motion of the rolls during roll-changing is achievedby means of a special gear 7.

The end of the spindle head 5 has two dogs 9 set in grooves 8, and eachdog is set on an axle 10 locked on the spindle head by means of a cover11. The dog in the initial position is pressed against a rest 14 by aspring 12 through a rod 13. The roll 1 is provided with grooves 15 whichin the working position are entered by the splines of the spindle head.The width of each dog 9 is about half the width of the groove 15 therebyfacilitating entering of the groove by the dog. Thus, each dog has onlyone working guide surface 16.

To prevent relative turning between the roll 1 and the spindle head 5during the process of their connection in roll-changing, the shape ofone of the dogs 9 corresponds to the shape of the other as a mirrorreflection, and the arrangement of the dogs on the spindle head isasymmetric about its longitudinal axis so that the working guide surface16 of one dog prevents the roll 1 from turning in relation to thespindle head 5 in one direction, and the working guide surface of theother dog in the same position of the roller, prevents the turning ofthe roll 1 relative to the spindle head in the opposite direction. Boththe roll 1 and the spindle head 5 are provided with charnfers 17 ontheir ends to facilitate the guidance of the roll in case it is notexactly coaxial with the spindle head in the original position. Theadmissible amount of misalignment is determined in each case by theconstruction of the device. Joining the roll with the spindle headduring roll-changing is carried out as follows: in the initial position,the dogs 9 under the action of springs 12 are pressed against the rest14 and project over the end of the spindle head 5. By means of aroll-changing the rolls 1 are moved onwards and brought closer to thespindle head 5 until the chamfered part 17 of the roll enters thecharnfered part of the spindle head. In coming close to the spindleheads, the ends of the rolls 1 cause the springloaded dogs 9 to sinkinto the grooves 8 on the end of the spindle head 5'.

When the rolls 1 are brought to a predetermined position near thespindle heads 5, a pulse, for instance, a synchro-system pulse is sentto stop the rolls, after which the spindles 4 of the drive begin torotate. The spindles are turned approximately through at a low rate(when two dogs are available as in the preferred embodiment). Duringrotation of the spindles the dogs 9, rotating together with the spindleheads 5 and sliding along the end of the rolls 1, come close to the rollgrooves 15 and under the action of the springs 12 enter such grooves,thus carrying the roll along.

When a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the spindles stoprotating (for instance under the action of a time relay) and a commandis given to move the rolls 1 3 further until they come into a completecontact with the spindle heads 5. In this contact, the spindle headsplines 6, the profile of which corresponds to the profile of dogs 9,enter the roll grooves 15, thus completing the connection between theroll and the spindle head.

To apply the proposed spindle head in vertical rolling stands, speciallocks are provided for holding the spindles in the upper position.

A lock (FIG. 4) is essentially an idle roller 18 set on an axle 19 fixedin turn on a lever 20. The lever 241 rotates on an axle 21 and through arod 22 is connected with piston 23 of a hydraulic cylinder 24, with suchpiston bringing it to the working position. The back stroke of the leveris effected 'by means of a spring 25 fixed in a sleeve 26.

The lock operates as follows: the pressure on the piston 23 of thehydraulic cylinder 24 is applied under the spindle collar through therod 22, lever 20 and idle roller 18. Each spindle thrusts against twosuch rollers on which it can rotate. After roll-changing, the pressurein the working chamber of the hydraulic cylinder is removed and thespring 25 brings the lever with the roller back into the originalnon-working position.

The proposed spindle head permits roll-changing with a quick andpositive connection between the rolls and spindles of the rolling millsand without manual labor, thus considerably reducing the roll-changingtime and consequently increasing the efiiciency of the rolling mills.The spindle head of the present invention can be applied both in newlydesigned and existing horizontal and vertical stands of rolling mills.

What we claim is:

1. A roll-driving spindle head comprising a means of transmitting torqueto a roll, said means being made preferably as splines; transversegrooves on the end of the spindle head; spring-loaded turning dogs setin said grooves and intended for guiding the grooves of said roll ontothe splines of said spindle head; at least one working guide surface oneach of said dogs, said surface being an extension of the side surfaceof said spline of the spindle head when the dog has been retracted.

2. A roll-driving spindle head comprising means of transmitting torqueto the roll, said means being made preferably as splines; transversegrooves on the end of the spindle head; spring-loaded turning dogs setin said grooves and intended to guide the grooves of said roll onto thesplines of said spindle head; only'one working guide surface on each ofsaid dogs, said surface being an extension of the side surface of saidspline of the spindle head when the dog has been retracted; and saiddogs being arranged on the end of the spindle head in such a fashionthat their working guide surfaces fix the position of the roll relativeto that of the spindle head while they are being connected and preventstheir turning with respect to one another.

No references cited.

WILLIAM W. DYER, 111., Primary Examiner.

GERALD A. DOST, Examiner.

4. A ROLL-DRIVING SPINDLE HEAD COMPRISING A MEANS OF TRANSMITTING TORQUE TO A ROLL, SAID MEANS BEING MADE PREFERABLY AS SPLINES; TRANSVERSE GROOVES ON THE END OF THE SPINDLE HEAD; SPRING-LOADED TURNING DOGS SET IN SAID GROOVES AND INTENDED FOR GUIDING THE GROOVES OF SAID ROLL ONTO THE SPLINES OF SAID SPINDLE HEAD; AT LEAST ONE WORKING GUIDE SURFACE ON EACH OF SAID DOGS, SAID SURFACE, BEING AN EXTENSION OF THE SIDE SURFACE OF SAID SPLINE OF THE SPINDLE HEAD WHEN THE DOG HAS BEEN RETRACTED. 